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Got a couple of stages to show in this update. First of all. . . killstripes!
The left side of the dome had been looking pretty blank until now. I've described
my masking method for the stripes in another thread, so I won't go into it again here.

The stripes were done with UP Armor Yellow, and then the rearmost stripes were given a
misting of a Polly Scale orange. I have 2 orange colors that are really close in appearance,
and since there's such a small amount used, I tend to just grab whichever bottle is closest.

Now that the stripes are on, I can go back and finish the gray/silver damage on that portion
of the helmet. It's a relatively small area, but there's a lot of detail mingled in with the stripes!

I also did a little construction work. Steve had sent me a genuine MQ-1 calculator to incorporate
into this helmet. I removed the circuit board and began prepping it for installation. After discussing
it with Steve, I chopped the lower half of the board. In the MoM and AoSW pics, the bottom half
of the circuit board is just a blank, flat surface. Once I chopped the board, I was left with this section.

I couldn't just suspend this part inside the helmet by magic, so I built a mounting platform for it.
The reverse side of the circuit board has a rectangular protrusion. This is actually the screen for
the calculator. I didn't want to remove the screen, so I cut a rectangular hole in a piece of Sintra
so the screen would protrude through, allowing the remainder of the board to sit flush.

Here's the circuit board in place on the Sintra. Nothing is glued in place yet at this point.

I measured the keyslot area on the helmet and cut the Sintra so that it would extend a little
beyond the limits of the keyslot openings.

I wanted to bring the lower section flush with the actual circuit board, so I cut a rectangle
out of some styrene sheet. This gave it just enough additional thickness.

Here's the whole assembly held up to the back of the helmet.

Later in the project, I'll determine the exact positioning for this platform, then add some
small stand-offs in the corners. This will allow me to attach the assembly into the helmet
and it will be reinforced with some epoxy putty.

I'm hoping to get the remainder of the gray and silver around the killstripes done today, and
then tomorrow should be Mandible Monday!

I began some of the detailing on the keyslot area today, too. Didn't have a whole lot
of time this afternoon, but I got the gray and darker PRR Maroon color down. I'll do the
silver tomorrow, and then start working on the band.

Took a day off work today for my birthday, and before the festivities later, I spent some
time in the painting zone. I continued working on the red band and completed all of the
areas behind the ear platforms.

Here's the left side. The white thumbprints will come closer to the end of the paintwork.

The opposite side. It's pretty odd how little red actually remains once all the damage is added!

This weekend I'll begin working on the red band above the T-visor, and then the mandibles.

Thanks for the birthday wishes! Went out for a great steak dinner and got some cool SW related birthday
presents. I got a Boba Fett wallet and a copy of "Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope." It's a book that tells the
story of Star Wars in the style of Wm. Shakespeare. I've only read a little so far, but it's hilarious!

NikNak_aka said:

I'm thinking of custom mixing something for mine when the time comes. When I bring my helmet thread back from the dead again I'll add it there.

Well how bout that young man - our birthdays are a day apart...and with the time difference, we would actually be celebrating them at the same time at some point Hope it was a fantastic day mate, us August kids clearly are the coolest . Best wishes all round!!!

OK, the weekend is drawing to a close as far as painting goes. I have some yard work to do this
afternoon and I see a trip to the grocery store in my very near future. So here's where the helmet
is as of noon.

I've completed the band above the visor. This is a relatively small area, but the position of the detailing
becomes more important the closer you are to Fett's "eyes." People are programmed to recognize faces
so the details around Fett's face are one of the key factors in making the helmet look right.
Here's the left angle.

Here's the right angle.

I have also completed prepping the aluminum ears for paint. I sanded them with some medium grade
sandpaper to remove the vestigial machining marks, and finished by polishing them with some fine
wire wool. Later this afternoon I'll prime them with some Duplicolor self-etching primer. This is a nice
primer for bare metal, as it is designed to bite into the surface and give a really good bond.

The helmet itself only needs the left and right mandibles painted at this point.
Doing the ears, RF topper and Borden connector will come after that. Then, it's on to final
weathering with some pastels, and this helmet will be done!

Whew! Where has August gone??
Got the left mandible complete. Didn't have a lot of time the last couple of days, but
I finally got this section done. Still a couple of tiny details to add, including the
contrasting red mark near the top, but I'm happy with the way it came out.

I also laid down the base colors on the ear parts. You can see them in the background.
So while I'm taking a break between the stages of the crazy right mandible, I can work on detailing the ears.

Another month torn from the calendar, and another major stage of the helmet is complete.

Got that crazy right mandible done. This always takes me several sessions. There's so much
detail, and getting the position and proportion of the damage areas correct is a challenge.
I have to give my poor eyeballs a break between sessions!

Now that this portion is done, all of the basic color application on the helmet is complete. I'll go back
over the entire helmet now and begin adding the contrasting pale color, the white thumbprints, and
some strategic pastel weathering.

The way my hobby room is situated, there's a certain time of day when there's too much glare coming
thru the window to work on fine detail work. The light just reflects too much off the surface. So during
those times, I work on things that don't require using a tiny brush. I used that time today to do the
black arch on the RF ear cap.

Lots of finicky masking to get the curve to look right. I airbrushed the arch with Tamiya flat black.
Tamiya paints airbrush really nicely, and they dry pretty quickly too.

I added those 2 tiny "drips" at the bottom of the left half of the arch as well. I'll give this piece
a good 24 hours to really dry thoroughly, then I'll mask for the white half-arch. I'll mask for the
white arch on the left ear at the same time.

Been slow on the Fettness the past couple of days. Real life keeps getting in the way.
How annoying!

Got some work done on the ears. In the last update, I showed the black arch that I airbrushed
onto the RF ear cap. I got the white half arch airbrushed on, as well as the gray damage and
some of the markings.

Before I add the silver, I'll do some pastel weathering and seal the parts with dull coat. Then I'll
physically scratch the silver through the paint. That's one advantage of using metal ears!

I also got the white arch airbrushed onto the left ear. The damaged sections were done with my
Winsor & Newton masking fluid.

I'll hopefully get to put some more time into the ears the next couple of days, but definitely by the
weekend. All that's really left to do is the gray and red damage on the left ear. Once that's complete,
I'll do the final pastel weathering and spattering on the helmet, then install the Borden and the visor!

It's getting very close to completion now! I've spent some time this weekend working
on the ears, and just a little while ago I was finally able to attach them!

I love these metal ear sets. They're fantastic, and being able to scrape away some paint to
expose a glint of aluminum beneath is a great effect. On both ears, I did the small black markings
with dry transfer lettering.

The dry transfers adhere really well to the bare metal, and they're super thin. More like waterslide
decals than vinyl decals. Plus, since the ones on the right ear parts are applied over bare aluminum,
I'm able to scrape them with a small sharp plastic tool after they're in place. In the above shots, I've
also done some light pastel weathering.

Just for fun, here are the vertical stripes on the upper RF ear cap. The original ESB is on the left, and
Steve's helmet is on the right. Just a couple of tiny black specks need to be added.

Remaining tasks: weather and install the Borden, install the MQ-1 inside the keyslots, install the visor,
weather and install the RF stalk and RF topper.